What comes to mind when you think of a robber or thief? You might visualize a bank robber, a house burglar, or a shop-lifter. But could you imagine one of your fellow church members, or even yourself as a robber? Such a thought may seem outrageous to you, yet the scripture below clearly states that all those who do not pay their tithes are in essence... robbing God.
Malachi 3:8-11 says this... “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, In what way have we robbed You? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this, Says the LORD of hosts, If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, Says the LORD of hosts;”
Everything Comes From God
Someone may ask, “How could I have robbed God by not paying tithes? The money I earn is mine, and I haven’t stolen anything from God!”
As we know, “robbery” is the act of taking something that does not belong to you. God specifically used the term “robbery” in Malachi to show that the tithe (which means a tenth) belongs to Him. We must understand that God is the owner of this earth, and everything on it belongs to Him. “The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1).
Understanding the concept of “tithing and giving” is an essential component of our faith and maintaining a solid relationship with God. Our only reliable source of understanding this concept is the Bible. Scripture says, “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the LORD of hosts” (Hag. 2:8). The natural tendency of man is to become possessive of the treasures of this world, especially those things you feel you’ve worked hard to earn and acquire. However, we need to remember that God created this planet and everyone on it, and even though Satan holds temporary dominion through sin (2 Cor. 4:4), the earth still belongs to God. We belong to God and everything we have belongs to Him. We are then caretakers of His wealth.
Furthermore, God is responsible for every means that people have to make a living (John 3:27, Jas. 1:17). The first human career path was agriculture. Are you a farmer? Farmers plant God’s seeds in His earth and rely upon His rain and sunshine to ripen it to harvest. Are you an auto worker? All the steel, glass, rubber, plastic, oil and gasoline are products from God’s earth. Are you a craftsman? Your talent or skill to work at a trade is given by God. He has given you your brain, eyes, ears, mouth, hands, fingers, legs, and feet that you use to earn your living. Even the silver and copper in our coins, and the wood pulp in our paper currency comes from God’s earth. It is extremely fair of God to only require a tenth to be returned to Him, since He owns 100% of this planet.
Unfortunately, many Christians misunderstand the idea of tithing and giving. They often think of it as giving a tenth from “their own” property to God. However, in reality it is God that has done the giving to us, and claims the return of only 10% of His own property.
Tithing is not taking a tenth of our own money and giving it to God, but it is returning a tenth of what was already His to begin with! Scripture says... “But who am I, and who are my people, That we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, And of Your own we have given You” (1 Chron. 29:14). God is so generous to us. He gives us the 90% and retains only 10% of what is ALL rightfully His.
We are Stewards Of God’s Property
Someone once suggested, “Well, if the tenth already belongs to God, why doesn’t He just automatically withhold the tithe and then give us the rest, like the IRS withholds taxes from our wages? That way God won’t have to depend on us to pay our tithes.”
God has chosen for us to personally involved, returning the tithe so that we can demonstrate our stewardship of his property. Stewardship is the faithful and responsible management of something that belongs to someone else. Obviously, if God observes that we are irresponsible in returning the small percentage that belongs to Him as He has directed, He knows that we can neither be trusted with any greater responsibilities or blessings in the Kingdom of God (Luke 16:10-11).
Tithing is a test of our stewardship over the property of God, a test of our honesty to return to God what is rightfully His, a test of our obedience to do what He told us to do, and a test of our love and desire to please Him with our lives. Tithing is a demonstration that we believe in God, and that we acknowledge that He is the provider of all material blessings. If you haven’t the faith to believe that the tithe belongs to the Lord, neither can you have faith in Him to meet your financial needs. After all, if you don’t believe that the tenth is His, you must not believe that the whole earth is His either. Without that confidence in His holiness and supremacy, there could be no confidence in His ability to provide our needs.
Most of us realize that robbery is a serious offense in our secular society, and those convicted of this crime can be sentenced to years in jail. But what happens to a person who is guilty of robbing God? The scriptures say that he will be “cursed with a curse” (Mal. 3:9). What kind of curse is this? From Malachi we see that God’s blessing to the tither is to open Heaven’s windows and pour out abundant blessings, and to rebuke the devourer (Satan) from destroying their increase and fruitfulness (Mal. 3:10-11). In contrast, the non-tither is cursed by having no protection to prevent the devourer from destroying their prosperity, and God cannot shower them with His abundant Heavenly blessings. This indeed is a curse.
Some claim they can’t afford to pay their tithes. But ask yourself, “Can you afford to be cursed? Can you afford to not have God’s blessings and protection over your finances? Can you afford to be considered a thief or robber of God’s property? Or can you afford to be a person who does not obey the Word of God?” The fact is, you cannot afford not to pay your tithes, because this is a core principle on which God has chosen to evaluate the quality of our faith and to bless us.
You may have wondered to yourself... “Why does God need my tithe?” In answer to this question, He doesn’t need your money or anyone else’s. Remember, God is the owner of the whole universe and all its wealth. However, He has chosen to use our tithes and offerings for the expenses of maintaining places of assembly for spiritual edification, carry foe those less fortunate and the work of evangelism throughout the world. On the first day of the week you are to bring your tithes and offerings to the “storehouse” of your Church where you are spiritually fed (1 Cor. 16:2). How important it is that we are faithful in our tithes and offerings, as this is God’s method of funding the preaching of His Word and the spreading of the Gospel (1 Cor. 9:13-14).
The Tithe Is our Seed
There is a universal law that God has placed in both the natural and spiritual realms. This is the law of sowing and reaping. “...God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal. 6:7).
All farmers understand God’s law of sowing and reaping. After a harvest in Bible times, before the farmer would use any of the grain as food for his family or livestock, he would first go through the harvest grain and pick out a percentage that exhibited the best qualities of size, weight, color, and set this aside as seed for the next season’s crop planting. This process helped assure that the next generation of crops would produce higher yields and greater quality.
This illustrates our tithe, why it cannot be the 10% that is “left over” after we pay everything else. The part that God claims and uses as seed is the first and best 10% of your increase, called the first fruits. “Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the first fruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine” (Prov. 3:9-10). Do not use the Lord’s tithe for anything else! If you don’t sow, you can’t reap.
How We Receive From God
The tithe is God’s property that we are required to return to Him, however an “offering” is that which we give voluntarily out of our own property after the tithe has been subtracted. As we give our tithes, and give offerings above our tithe to God, He will continue to bless us and multiply our return in proportion to our investment in Him (2 Cor. 9:6).
Challenge yourself to become a tither and a giver to God, and “prove” His promise to bless you, just as He invites you to do in Malachi 3:10. Give to God in faith, expecting Him to bless your return (Mark 11:24), and give cheerfully, expressing joy and confidence in giving to God (2 Cor. 9:7). The same proportion that you open your faith to give to Him, He will use that same proportion as His measurement to bring blessing back to you!
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).
Next week... more on the topic of giving to God and what it means in our relationship with Him.
